The present invention relates to educational games in general and in particular to religious ones, this one having the objective of simulating the spread of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire according to the book of Acts of the Bible. Hence I have named the game "GOSPEL EXPLOSION: The Acts of the Apostles". The game may be played by one to six participants, and all participants work together to try to defeat the board with all of its chance elements.
Board games which attempt to simulate historical events are not novel. Especially prevelant on the market today are games which simulate warfare. Two such games designed and copyrighted by the Avalon Hill Company are "1776" and "Blitzkrieg." War games typically involve a mixture of strategy and chance and provide competition between players. There is a need to provide similar type games in different areas but in which the emphasis is on having the players work together to reach a desired result. The present invention provides such a game.
Games which utilize a board depicting a map of at least part of the world have been disclosed in the prior art, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 387,220; 952,997; 1,579,327; 3,368,816; 3,942,800; and 4,216,967. Such games cover a wide variety of subjects such as presidential election games, war games and archeological games and may be educational and/or entertaining. Educational games are generally directed to a specific segment of the population, and their success depends in large part upon the game's educational value, variety in the play, appeal to various age groups, and the use of a good combination of luck and skill. This invention meets these requirements for a successful educational game.
One of the important principles in the game according to the present invention is the use of a player board, distinct from the game board, for each moveable game piece. These player boards allow for movement of the game pieces (representing the New Testament Apostles) and for the winning of "converts" and "deacons" by the Apostles. One chance means is employed to aid or hinder the Apostles as they try to establish and build churches; another chance means, utilized each time an Apostle wins one or more converts, may present conflicts for the participants to resolve. No other educational or entertaining game has this combination of components, and it is believed that this game has a successful combination.
The game according to the present invention in detail utilizes a game board with a plurality of consecutive hexagonal playing spaces thereon (having indicia associated therewith), a plurality of moveable game pieces for movement across the board, a plurality of player boards (one for each moveable game piece), a plurality of marker pieces for the game board, and a plurality of chips for the game board. At least two different indicia are provided for distinguishing two distinct types of markers as well as chips. Moreover, the indicia on the chips correspond to point values for those pieces. Chance means are provided for aiding or hindering the Apostles as they try to establish and build churches; another chance means allows for the loss of converts through conflicts. Preferably, both of these chance means are cards, which are distinguishable by the indicia thereon. Dice and charts are employed to determine how many converts are "won" on a particular game turn. Players work together to try to establish and build as many strong churches as possible in order to spread the gospel throughout the Roman Empire within the 40 years (or 20 game turns) that the game spans. Competition is provided by the game itself, through the chance cards and dice, and the players are constantly striving to beat the odds and overcome persecution, just as the early Christians had to do. The hexagonal playing spaces on the game board are disposed in a plurality of continuous paths, forming both land and sea routes, having one space thereof indicating the starting point for six of the Apostles. The other six Apostles enter the game at various cities and at different stages of the game, depending upon how fast and where the first six Apostles are spreading the gospel. After all Apostles who have entered the game have taken their turns, one game turn has been completed. At the end of twenty game turns, the total number of converts and deacons is totalled to determine whether or not the participants have in fact defeated the board.
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide an educational game which is enjoyable to those of all ages and which simulates the growth of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Inspection of the detailed description of the invention and of the claims will reveal this and other objectives of the invention.